Some years ago, I had a friendship with someone I can only call a New Ager, though he represented his belief system as though it were "Christian". When I first knew him, he was supportive of my work; and he represented himself as a defender of Liberty and the Constitution. I would say that was the basis of our friendship, what I thought were common beliefs and causes.

I've since lost contact with this person, simply because he finally tried to foist his New Age "Christian" beliefs on me. Nice guy, but in the end, too aggressive in his proselytizing....

In conversations with him, I had clearly stated that I did not agree with his belief system, and I explained why, at least in an overview. I also stated that I do not argue scripture, nor religion, nor the deeper metaphysics which may be involved, with anyone, as a matter of policy.

Personally, I find having debates or arguments on such matters a waste of time. I know what I believe, and my spiritual faith is devout. If I have something to say on these matters, I may sometimes write an article, if I feel led in the Spirit to do so.

But that is the extent of my "evangelism." Those who read my articles may take them or leave them and make of them what they will. And I respect the right of others to their own spiritual/religious beliefs...that is, as long as they do not try to force these beliefs down the throats of others.

If others (usually Christian Fundamentalists) want to consider me a heretic, so be it. If New Agers believe me to be "ignorant of the laws of the universe" or less "spiritually evolved" than themselves, so be it. This does not concern me, as long as they leave me alone to live my life as I see fit.

But I will say, I'm someone who believes in the "mysteries of God"; my faith in the power and ultimate justice of God; in the Kingdom of God, is what sustains my life; and I acknowledge the Grace of God for all that I have and all that I am.

Yes, I have free will, as does everyone. But that too is a gift of God. I know that I myself am nothing without God; and that it is my duty to use what gifts of the spirit God has bestowed on me (to the best of my ability) for righteous purposes.

I've always had what I can only call a "mystical" bent, and contemplative spirituality has always come naturally to me. For instance, I can relate deeply to the writings of Thomas Merton; Julian of Norwich and others, and the fact that these individuals were Catholic does not matter to me in the least. They knew God, and their Spirit-filled insights reflected that uncontestable fact.

But in the last analysis, I am simply a believer in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that pretty much sums it up for me.

One day, a few years ago, I attended a wedding. The man who married the couple was a Catholic priest. The woman was Catholic, and the man was Christian, but Protestant, and refused to convert. So the wedding did not take place in a church, but the priest agreed to perform the ceremony and everyone was happy with that arrangement.

After the wedding, the priest approached me to say hello (I was a member of the wedding party) and I complimented him on the lovely service. I could see he was a Spirit-filled Christian, and that all that he had spoken came from the heart.

I then said to the priest, "I'm a believer in the Gospel of Jesus Christ." And he answered (clearly rejoicing in the Lord) "So am I!" There was nothing more to be said. We understood each other perfectly. That is my idea of faith, of being filled with the Holy Spirit. No arguments, no explanations are necessary.

But back to the the New Age ideas being promoted by the individual mentioned above. He had written an article about this belief system, which he sent to me, asking for my comments. I have included a few excerpts from the article, and also a letter I wrote to him, just an overview of my reflections on his article.

But of course, I have my reasons for publishing all this. I believe, based on many years of studying and reasearching the New Age Movement (as well as from my own seminary studies) that this New Age belief system is in fact spiritually dangerous. I won't go into the reasons right now, but since I am working on a series of articles on this subject matter, more will be forthcoming in future.

For now, here find some excerpts from an article titled, Right Thinking. My comments follow.

Excerpts from Right Thinking

For the purpose of this piece, I call our attention to one particular verse found in Matthew chapter 6, verse 33. It says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” In the surrounding verses one can determine what “these things” are, and conclude that for permanent and excellent change to take place, there must, by necessity, be a “change in thinking.” The term “righteousness” simply means “right thinking.”

The Law of Cause and Effect is impersonal, just like sunshine. If you are standing in the sun, you receive the warmth and healing benefits of the sun's rays. If you are standing in the shade, it seems like the sun isn't shining on you. But who moved you into the shade? Who moved you into the darkness? The truth is we are in darkness because of our ignorance.

Beliefs Become Limitations

All our experiences have led us to believe certain things about ourselves. Whether these beliefs are true or not really doesn't matter because if we accept them as true, then they are true for us. If we speakourword long enough, it becomes law in the universe. Pronounce your limitations vigorously enough and they're yours. Whether your beliefs are true or totally insane, if you accept them, then that's what your life will be about.

The aim of all great teachers since the beginning of time was to awaken us to the fact that we create our own reality. More importantly, we are responsible for everything that happens in our lives.

You may not have realized it until now, but everything you experience in your life is invited, attracted and created by you. There are no exceptions. That may not be good news if your life is not going the way you want it to. But since most of us are not too happy with what we have created in our lives, we have become highly gifted masters through attracting an over abundance of circumstances that we would rather not have.

We need to take responsibility for everything that has happened to us. Through the law of attraction, we attract either consciously or unconsciously everything that happens to us. Whatever anyone has done to us, we have participated in it, and are at some level, responsible. In essence, there are no victims, only volunteers.

Comments from Barbara Hartwell (2005)

You wanted my opinion on this, so here it is. You may not "like" it. You know me to be blunt.

First, none of what is written here is new to me. I have whole shelves full of books, some of which are over thirty years old, which outline these very ideas or different combinations thereof. I have also heard these ideas from various New Age "gurus" of one stripe or another.

I understand, by the way you have presented these ideas here, with such authority, that you believe them to be true. And I certainly respect your right to your beliefs. However, from my studies of this philosophy, over a period of many years, I do not agree.

In fact, attempts were made to indoctrinate me into this very belief system by the New Age contingent of the New World Order.

Obviously, the attempts failed, but I've seen and heard enough of it over a period of many years to understand what it's about.

These "create your own reality"; "blame the victim" or " there are no victims, only volunteers" ideas are key to get people to accept anything and everything that happens, no matter how evil, no matter how atrocious, with the mistaken belief that they "brought it on themselves" or should "take responsibility" for it.

Nothing could be further from the truth! This belief goes against justice being done, including God's justice against evildoers.

In my opinion, this belief system enslaves people, as I have witnessed many times. In fact, I could not have broken free of CIA if I had not realized this, and only through the grace of God. So, I can only go by what has been revealed to me directly and from the evidence I have seen in my own life, and the lives of others, as to what I know to be true.

Now, this is not to say that there are not PARTIAL truths here in your article. Such as that the unconscious (subconscious) mind has a "creative" capacity by which beliefs may materialize in certain ways. Such as that people can limit their potential by limiting what they believe in their minds to be true, etc.

And as a teacher/minister of (Christian) metaphysics and spiritual counselor for many years, I do understand that some of what you say is accurate. But the overall package, as presented here, in my opinion, does lead the reader astray, that is, assuming the reader is "searching" for a truth or a tutorial and thus may be inclined to just accept what is written.

On the other hand, in my own case, I was able to discern, as I read it, which parts I knew to be true and which false.

My purpose is not to argue with you (or anyone) about your beliefs or about a system of beliefs, including what you describe as "universal law". It is simply not something I do, as a matter of policy. I have had people send me this type of material many times, mostly with "good intentions", thinking that they would be "helping" me or "planting a seed" by presenting these ideas; or under the false assumption that I was not aware of them, thinking they would be new to me, etc. etc.

So I don't know what purpose there would be for me to go through your article with a fine tooth comb, arguing every point. It would also be far too time-consuming.

I can only say, speaking strictly for myself, that God has always spoken directly to me through the Holy Spirit (which I "hear" or "see" through spirit-filled intuition, clairvoyance, etc.) and sometimes through angels, and that my life has always been guided in that way.

If I had not listened, I would not be alive today. At the times I did not listen, I got in serious trouble.

In fact, most of my consciousness resides in the world of the spirit, which is one reason I am "in the world, but not of the world". And I do know the meaning of "Seek first the Kingdom Of God and His Justice...."

Since I can only speak for myself, I can tell you with no qualifications, that it is not "ignorance", nor lack of "right thinking" that has caused my problems or my circumstances, past or present. Nor is there "confusion" in my mind, nor in the spirit.

I am not "responsible" for all that happens to me. I have not "volunteered" to have abuses heaped on me. I did not invite malicious liars and psychotic stalkers to spread lies about me all over the Internet, to destroy my personal or professional reputation.

These abuses are totally undeserved by me. There is no "lesson" to be learned from these abuses. And they happened only as a result of being targeted for exposing the truth about government crime and corruption, spiritual wickedness in high places.

The government has ruined my health with anti-personnel weaponry, bio warfare and years of abuses, and driven me into destitution. These are the facts, and have nothing to do with a lack of "right thinking"; nor "creating my own reality".

This is not to say that there is no hope of remedying these situations. With God, all things are possible. But I will not be blamed for these things, or have anyone tell me that I am "responsible" for "creating" them. Not so.

Further, I intend to see justice done and to hold these criminals and evildoers responsible for their violations of my God-given rights. Amen.

Those who happen to be bad guys and evildoers (by their own choice) most certainly ARE to blame for their crimes against God and humanity, and against me, and I will certainly continue to expose them and ask God to serve justice upon them.

This includes George W. Bush and all the rest of the criminals in government and their minions. That is not going to change; and I do what I do at the instruction given me by God. I can only speak for myself, but "righteousness" is following God's law. There is no "neutrality" in that. There is only good and evil, right and wrong.

God gave me the discernment, through gifts of the spirit, to see that.

I do know God's purpose for me and my life, which had been revealed to me long ago, and that is between me and God. No person can know that, nor dissuade me from my path, which was ordained by God before the foundation of the world.

As far as scripture goes, my real understanding comes only from the Holy Spirit and I never argue scripture with anyone, as it is an excercise in futility. As I'm sure you know, there are many books of scripture (non-canonical) which are not included in the various versions of the Bible. So, having studied them, I am not under the illusion that there is any literal or "legal" interpretation of scripture that I must follow.

In fact, there is much that is false in canonical scripture, including that which was designed to denigrate women or make them subservient to men, which does not come from God, or the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

(Some of Paul's writings included. Just an example. Do I "throw out" Paul entirely? No, of course not. However, Paul is human, not divine. And although some of his teachings have great value and contain spiritual truth, I am also aware that his teachings have been influenced by political considerations, as well as possibly by later editing by church patriarchs, for these same purposes. Enough said, I won't elaborate further.)

There is no religious indoctrination or "churchianity" which controls my thinking, never has been. For me, my understanding comes direct through the Holy Spirt, always has.

Since I can only speak for myself, from my own experience, and have no wish to impose my beliefs on anyone else, I don't think there is much else I can say.

But the question in my mind, with due respect, is this: I have always been up front about what I believe and what I stand for. So, if you have known this (and especially in reading some of my articles and reports) how could you have thought there was any "agreement" at all in our respective beliefs?

It appears to me that you and I see things from a very different perspective. This does not mean we cannot be friends; we can agree to disagree with no animosity. However, it would make it difficult to have further discussions about my own life with you, considering that these beliefs you hold do not accurately reflect the truth about my life.

And I certainly would not presume to tell you that I know the truth about your life, as again, that is between you and God.

You are my friend. I know you to be a sincere person. I can only say that I do know exactly what is going on in my own life and that, aside from God, no one else can make that claim.

The affidavit I wrote (I mention it because my reference to it seemed to have prompted you to send me your article) was based on facts and also explained my feelings about some of those facts, as well as my position.

As I said, it was written for all and sundry, friends, family, strangers, the public, FYI. Not a plea for assistance, sympathy, counsel or advice. Just FYI, for anyone interested to know.

That is the truth and I stand by it. And the "vow of silence" in discussing my personal circumstances, for the most part is because I know that most people do not understand and it drains my energy and time, which I am simply not willing to have happen anymore. If most people do not understand, so be it. If some do, wonderful.

I continue to pray for God to change my circumstances, and God has answered many of my prayers. But it is God's will for me, not mine, that I ask to be done and that is what I trust in. It is God's word that is "law", not mine.

If in fact there is to be a "transformation" of any sort in my life (which may happen, as you seemed to believe or intuit) it will come through God's grace and not by any "tweaking" of my way of "thinking", which I now realize is what you may have been referring to, under the (false) assumption that I was changing my way of viewing things.

Not so. My views, based on God's truth and God's laws, as I understand them, remain consistent.

I can love people for who and what they are and still know that it is their false beliefs about me and my situation which are standing in the way of my relationships with them; and which prevent them from treating me with respect and/or offering me assistance without strings attatched, or attempting to control me, which I will not accept, as a matter of principle.

I respect other people's rights and personal boundaries, their free will, and expect them to respect mine. I only pray that God will heal those relationships in my life which can be healed, the ones which are most important to me. The others will fall by the wayside.

I hope that I have at least made it clear where I stand, in the hope you may understand my position, even if you do not agree with it. But then, it is not necessary for you to agree, only to respect my right to determine my own path, as I respect your right (or anyone else's) to determine yours.

I've so far seen no indication of any disrespect from you, and I see that as a good sign, and hope we will continue to be friends, no matter that we have some disagreements.